Towel-holder.



W. E. BARBER.

TOWEL HOLDER.

5 APPLICATION FILED 001222, 1912. 1,116,209, Patented Nov. 3, 1914.

2 SHEETS -SHEET l.

[N V1? N TOR J Allormyit.

1970 r2? er.

W. E. BARBER.

TOWEL HOLDER. APPLICATION FILED OGT. 22, 1912. 1, 1 1 6,209. Patented Nov. 3, 1914.

Z SIIEETS-S HEET 2.

v INVENTOA (ZJ'Z er.

7 0 J Allarmy;

towels.

WILLIS 1E. B A R BI IR, 0F LACROSSE, WISCONSIN.

TOWEL-HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 3,1914.

Application filed October 22. 1912. 'Serial No. 727,265.

To all whom it may concern .f

Be it known that I, l/VILLis E: Banana, citizen of the United States, residing at La Crosse, in the county of La Grosse and State of \Viscons'in, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Towel-Holders, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in towel holders and has for one of its objects the provision of-a towel holder which will support a plurality of Many hotels and other public places now supply individual towels for guests which are commonly supported in piles upon a shelf or table and which, when used, are usually deposited in a hamper which is emptied from time to time Towels when merely laid upon a shelf in the manner above described are apt to be displaced and to fall upon the floor and the towels when used may be deposited in the hamper which is supplied for that purpose or may be left lying about the room or thrown upon the floor. Furthermore, the towels being free, the guests may remove the same from the room. For the above reasons the various methods now in use for supplying towels to,

. guests in public places have been found 'to be unsatisfactory.

A further-object ofmy invention is therei fore to provide a towel holder which will support a plurality of clean towels in superimposed relation upon a shelfjand which will prevent them from falling to the floor if accidentally displaced from the shelf.'

A further object of my invention is to rovide a support for the clean towels and a hanger for holding the soiled towels after use, and in order that the towels may not become scattered about the room I further providea transfer device operatively connecting the support and hanger in such a manner that the towel is never free from the holder proper.

A further object of my invention is to so construct and arrange the support, transfer device and hanger that they will in no way interferewith theemployment ,of the towel in the ordinary manner and in such a manner that the guest, after using the towel, need only drop the same when the towel will automatically pass to the hanger.

A further object of my invention is to so construct the towel holder that fresh towels may be readily positioned thereon and soiled towels removed therefrom. And a still further object of my invention is to provide means for locking the towels upon the holder so as to prevent their being removed from the room.

\Vith these and other objects in view, my invention will be more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and then specifically pointed out in the claims which are attached to and form a part of this application.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a pespective view of my improved towel hol'er in operation; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view, showing such details of construction as are not clearly brought out in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a' double form of towel holder, this figure also illustrating a slightly modified form of construction; Fig. 4 1s a fragmentary view of one of the towels employed with this holder, showing a loop attached to the corner to permit the stringing of the towels upon the holder; Fig. 5 is a similar view, showing another'way of adapting the towels for use in connection with my holder.

Corresponding and like'parts are referred to in'the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

My invention preferably includes a supporting shelf 10 and backboard 11 rigidly connected to each other and suitably braced by brackets 12. A supporting standard 13 is preferably secured by its upper end to the backboard 11 and extends by itslower end a considerable distance below the same. In order to permit the positioning of the towel holder against a wall or other suitable support, the rear face of the backboard- 11 is preferably recessed in such a manner that the upperend of the standard 13 lies flush with the backboard, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

That portion of the holder above described may be secured against a wall or support by suitable fastening devices, such as screws, passed through the backboard and supporting standard or it may be sup} ported above the wash bowls by the supporting standard 13 alone.

Theshelf 10 preferably conforms in shape and size to the towels which it is to support but may be made smaller than the towels if the latter are to be folded before placing themthereon. Secured to the'lower face of 6" van either by means of aloop 17 attached to one corner of the towel and passed over the spindle, or by means of eyelet holes 18 formed in one corner of the towels. so mounted upon the shelf, it will be apparout that the brackets 12, together with the spindle will-tend to prevent the accidental displacement of thetowels from the shelf, and that even though brushed from the shelf, the towels will still be supported by the spindle.

In order to prevent the free removal-of the'towels from theholder-and in order to supply a hanger for supporting the soiled towelsfl provide a transfer device 19 .comprising a rod, preferably of resilient metal, bent into the shapeof a U and with one side portion telescopically mounted'in the upper end of the tubular spindle 15, as shown at 20. lhis ll-shaped transfer member is so proportioned that its free side extends beyond the outer line of the shelf and below the shelf and this free end is bent inwardly and downwardly to form a hanger 21, the free end 22 of which is passed through a sleeve 23 carried by a plate 24 mounted upon thelower end of the supporting standard and is adjustably secured in place by means of a set screw 25 threaded through the sleeve and engaging against the end 22 of portion the hanger.

If desired, the intermediate portion of the hanger may be extended downwardly and then upwardly before" being passed through the sleeve 24 to'form a loop 26 from which. the soiled towels will hang asshown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. 1 I

In operation, the clean towels are'threade'd'upon the spindle l5 and supported upon the shelf-10. l The shorter. arrn of the transfer member is then positioned in the spindle and the free end of the hanger member is place.

passed through the sleeve23 and. loclredin It will be apparent from the foregoing" description that it will be'absolutely impos-I sible to completely remove the towels from the'towel holder without first loosening the set screw 23 and removing the free end of the hanger from its sleeve.

In use, the towels are successively removed from the pile bythe guests, the towel in each case being raised up over the bight the transfermemberyemployed in When the customary manner and then released. Upon its release, it falls by gravity upon the hanger 21 and is supported by-the hanger above the floor. /Vhen fresh towels are to be supplied or soiled towels are to be removed from thehanger, the set screw 23 is released and the combined transfer device and hanger raised a sutlicient distance to' free the end 22 when the soiledtowels' may be slipped over said end into a-suitable hamper and carried away lt will of course bev understoodithat anynumber of spindles,'transfer devices and hangers may be employed with asingle shelf and for the sake of clearnes's, I have illustrated the employment of two supporting devices in connection with a single shelf in F 1g. 3-ot the draw1ngs= In this figure,-

the supporting device shown at the left is identical with that aboye-des'cribed; while that shown at the right .di'fiers somewhat in' that the hanger. there designated by the'nu n'ier'al 27 is merely a straight continuation of the longer sideofthe transfer device;

being passed directly downward through the sleeve without any formation of a loop-such as that shown at 26 in Fig. vl-of the;draw-- ings. Anotherpoint of difference to be noted in this hanger is the method-in which the-free end of the hanger issecured in its sleeve, this being accomplished by means of anyv suitable form of lock 28 which absolutely prev'entsthe removal of .towels'frorn the supp crt'by' other'than employees.

The towels shown at the left of Fig." 3 are similar to those shown in'Figs'. land t, While the towels at the right i are". constructed in accordance with the showing of Fig. 5 of the drawings, being provided with eyelet holes for threaded engagement upon the spindle rather than with'th'e loops.

Although l have illustrated bothihangers as secured in sleeves carried by a single'plate 29 in Fig. 3 of the drawings, it .Will of;

course be understood that a separate plate may be employed for each hanger. lt will further be understood that when the towel holder is to be secured against a wall, the

backboard and supporting standard maybe omitted, ifdesired, in WhlCll case, the sleeve carrying plate orplateswill be secured directly to thewall.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that I "have provided an extremely simple and efficient form' of towel holder and one adaptedto support a plurality of towels for individual use, in'such a manner that the clean and s oiled towels are kept separate and in such a mannerthat the em ployment of the towels in the ordinary manner is in no way-interfered with. Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is: 1A. towelnolder mcludmg ,a'supportmg tubular-spindle extending upwardly iao from said shelf, a plate positioned below the shelf, a locking device carried by said plate, and a rod having one end telesco ically mounted in the upper end of the spin 1e, the free end of the rod beinxr bent upwardly and downwardly and detachably secured in the locking device. a

2. A towel holder includin a supporting shelf, a tubular spindle exten ing upwardly from said shelf, a plate positioned below the shelf, a locking device carried by said plate, and a rod having one end telescopically mounted in the upper end of the spindle, the free end of the rod being bent upwardly and downwardly and detachably secured in the locking device, said downwardly directed portion being provided intermediate its length with a towel retaining loop.

3; A towel holder ineludin a supporting shelf, a tubular spindle exten ing upwardly from the shelf, a plate positioned below the shelf, a locking device carried by the plate, arod having one end detachably seated in the upper end of the tubular spindle, said rod being bent outwardly and downwardly 

